After 35 seasons, The Simpsons is still shocking viewers, and fans are upset after the series killed off a beloved character. In the Apr. 21 episode titled "Cremains of the Day," Larry "The Barfly" Dalrymple surprisingly died. The background character, voiced by Harry Shearer, has been somewhat of a mainstay since the series premiered in 1989, which is why the death was so sudden and sad.
Fans were appropriately outraged at Larry's demise, and many took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share their thoughts. DeadBlock999 shared that "all jokes aside, Larry The Barfly's life is really f---ing sad and tragic," while adrenochromia paid respects to their "drunken king." Meanwhile, others are simply wondering what Larry did to deserve this, such as ashleeverma, who asked, "why did they have to kill off larry from the simpsons like that???"
The answer is simple, however. Co-executive producer Tim Long told TMZ that the creative team wanted Larry's death to "hit the audience hard" despite the character, who frequented Moe's Tavern, never having any big moments and very few lines. Long also brought up the fact that characters don't die very often on The Simpsons, so no matter how big or small, it's a huge deal and hurts that much more.
Although Long is truly sorry for upsetting the fans, he noted that he saw just how hurt they were and might have been as hurt as Homer and co. since "it speaks to how beloved the show still is." He does have a point there, as even after 35 years, people are still so attached to the series and the characters, no matter the impact said character has on the show as a whole. A death like that definitely has to be expected after all these years, but that doesn't mean it hurts any less.
Even though The Simpsons didn't kill off any major character, it definitely seems like it's still as painful as ever. Hopefully the series doesn't kill off any more characters any time soon, but after Larry, you never know what could happen. The Simpsons did get renewed for two seasons last year, so there is still much to look forward to in these remaining episodes of Season 35, as well as the upcoming Season 36. A new episode of The Simpsons airs on Sunday, May 5 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
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